Silicon Valley – Magic that cannot be replicated

Sunday November 22, 2009 , 9 min Read

All great ventures arise out of fulfilling a need. Silicon Valley and its parade of world conquering geeks were at the beginning fulfilling the purpose of financing Stanford University’s post-war growth. With 8000 acres of land the university decided to give some out to Varian Associates in the area known as the “Stanford Industrial park”. Leland Stanford who originally bequeathed the farm that became the university had a clause preventing its sale but the industrials were equally interested in buying a long term lease. Stanford got money and the world got technology that would change it forever.

After Varian moved into the first building in 1953 others came along to give them company. Companies like Eastman Kodak, General Electric, Preformed Line Products, Admiral Corporation, Lockheed, and Hewlett-Packard among others all grew out of the pleasant valley in South San Francisco. Silicon Valley is today an all encompassing term that captures the high-tech industry in its entirety, coined by Ralph Vaerst (a California Entrepreneur) whilst referring to the notable number of businesses there that dealt in semi-conductors (which used silicon hence the name silicon valley).

Herein lies a minor controversy where people debate over who coined the term Ralph Vaerst or Don Hoefler. The inimitable Wiki lays this to rest by informing us that Ralph coined the term and Don was first to publish the term in a series of articles called “Silicon Valley USA”. Despite the “who” did “what” we all know that out of the Valley came some truly great creations from creative minds with entrepreneurial dreams. There are so many of them (events and entrepreneurs) I might just have to divide my usual rants into two streamlined tirades. The history itself behind Silicon Valley is a veritable study in the evolution of a geographical location into an entity endowing various attributes to latter ventures.

In a manner befitting a fairytale the land seems to attract adventure although of the entrepreneurial type but adventure none the less. Like Baghdad, Troy or Samarkand, Silicon Valley too has its heroes and mythical tales. For some the idea that two young electrical engineers with $538 and a garage to work in would change the face of printing and become the largest manufacturers of computers in the world is a fairy tale waiting to happen. In the sense that people may forget how it happened and just remember that it happened (which is how fairy tales come about) William Hewlett and David Packard also never totally understood or surmised what they were about to do as is evident from their first successful product namely audio oscillators

They were not alone in changing technology as Douglas Engelbart proved with a little military funding. He invented the mouse and also the precursor of many a GUI (Graphical User Interface). Steve Jobs also hired a lot of his key personnel from Xerox’s Palo Alto research centre which also sprung form the Valley. I have hardly even scratched the surface of the numerous stories, entrepreneurs and successes that Silicon Valley spawned. The Fortune 1000 (a list of the 100 biggest revenue generators in America) contains many Silicon Valley names like Adobe Systems, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Apple Inc., Cisco Systems, eBay, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Symantec and Yahoo! to name a few.

Many have been perplexed and frustrated while replicating the Silicon Valley model, some have also come close but never matched up to the original. The ingredients of entrepreneurship, government support, cash supply and creative minds need a further catalyst for success and that factor is the one that eludes every other place. Perhaps Silicon Valley is charmed akin to various geographical locations that have become proficient at making certain products e.g. movies (Hollywood) Aircraft (Pensacola Bay) and weapons (Israel). Perhaps we should better examine the factors that make Silicon Valley what it is instead of “yammering” like superstitious fools.

Anna Lee Saxenian (prof at UC Berkeley) explained in her book “Regional Advantage” how the culture of Job hopping, Information sharing, “entrepreneurial experimentation and collective learning” were fostered in the valley. The arising connections and working relationship between entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley was and is only matched by the camaraderie on the social networking sites of today (just replace everyone with entrepreneurs). This meant that venture capitalists always had an eye and an ear on what would work and were quick to spot and nurture businesses.

The number of Venture Capitalist companies that today inhabit the Valley is not staggering but still quite remarkable considering that anyone can boost your startups fortunes. http://www.gocee.com/valley/busvc_sj.htm has a list of Silicon Valley based venture capitalists that is quite comprehensive.

Silicon Valley has grown out of fulfilling a need and snowballed into a freefalling jazz ballet of entrepreneurship, Innovation, technology, and success with a little help from geniuses coming fresh out of Stanford University. The formula or combination for recreating their success is beyond me, all I know is that Silicon Valley works and entrepreneurship is its lifeblood.

Usually I would tell you how we could make our very own Silicon Valley but Bengaluru beat me to it. However our version is not a patch on theirs, sure we have Infosys, Wipro and such, I’m not even sure they came from our “Silly-con” Valley but I’ll tell you why I’m sure Indians will never be able to do things like make a Hewlett Packard or a Google at least in my lifetime.

We never get along, Indian love to racially segregate each other, A “maru” or a “Bhaiya” or “Gujju” or a “Chink” or coconut eating lungi wearing “rascala” will call the other the racial moniker of his choice and rejoice in it. Information and resource sharing be damned we won’t even share the same identity of being Indians first or Entrepreneurs first. The hierarchy and class consciousness that we have ingrained into us has existed for longer than the notion of India has been around. We want to make money and create value but we cannot do it alone without the rest of our countrymen. The trouble also lies in the fact that some of us who are capable of doing bigger and better things are only waiting for a rich buy out and that’s a fact.

The talent that comes out of IIT’S or IIM’s is undoubtedly of higher quality and better pedigree with every passing year. However their outlook on life and work boils (for a majority) down to a great position and the seven figure salary. Whatever vision they do have is the one they will talk about at the aforementioned “great position employers” interviewing session and once they have settled into their jobs they forget about it. The thought process that made one want to be the best in the country somehow bows down before the prospect of having to struggle and possibly fail. From societal pressure to pressure from parents to take the safer option we Indians are essentially heading into the space age while carrying baggage and ideas from the last century. Instead of nurturing free thinkers and risk takers we are a society that rewards those who are meek and lead the same lives with minor tweaks as their grandfathers.

If society and collective thought were not enough to dissuade our young geniuses, when one brainy chap does decide to create something and not follow the other lemmings, we shall ridicule, undercut, sabotage, plagiarize and refuse to cooperate for fear that he/she will be bigger than us or somehow upset the apple cart.

The apathy among some entrepreneurs is also harrowing. If by any chance entrepreneurs do get together and make an idea work and grow big, chances are they will sit back and employ their sister’s nephew and all other family members. If in case they have very little family they will cook the books and boost their stocks and make an early exit. The responsibility to carry on and sustain growth with ethical means is dying out. The reasons are simple the benefits far outweigh the pitfalls when it comes to nepotism and it’s not just one persons fault. We as Indians endorse a culture of being ethically unsound and it seeps into every sphere of our lives. Taking and giving bribes is very normal for us (chai-pani anyone…)

And if all that were not enough the entrepreneur or inventor who finally manages to make it without selling out even an inch of his dreams will eventually have to buckle down to survive. Hard earned money will go to bribing some bureaucratic idiot or the other. Making sure that your government helps you help them get the economy running costs money and it’s not just something I’m making up.

If in case any of my dear readers disagree please locate ten Indian Entrepreneurs in the last thirty years who have made something of worldwide importance and recognition and prove me wrong. We have made money but I ask you how much of that money has changed anyone’s life but for a few select Individuals who are now wealthier than ever.

I promise to find out how in God’s holy name they managed to not lose their minds while maintaining and growing their vision. (Remember I said something recognized world wide). Perhaps I may not have laid much emphasis on what makes Silicon Valley work (for those of you who were hoping for a revelation). It is apparent that the “Valley” exists and that a similar model involves many factors and a bit of luck. These factors can be replicated in India but for the hurdles that we have been creating for ourselves.

I am not saying that the American mind is superior in any way; it’s just that we can outdo and match anyone but for the shackles we have made for ourselves. The sooner we recognize that we can be better than what we are the sooner we shall come to creating a “Silicon Valley” of our own. For those that did not expect a cynical rant by yours truly, my apologies are all yours.

References and Photo courtesy:

Wikipedia.org

siliconvalley.com

netvalley.com

gocee.com

About me:- I am a Content Writer and a Voice & Accent trainer. I also moonlight as an arm chair political thinker and economist. My views are usually cynical (take no heed) and hopefully enlightening. My views are mine and solely mine and in no way shape or form reflects the stance, leanings or ideology of yourstory.in

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